On a typical modern computer desktop, there are a wide variety of different software applications which are required for a user to complete his or her workflow. These applications may be common desktop applications, or custom applications which are often front-ends to services which reside elsewhere, such as database or analytical tools. Most software application programs are designed to have a front end portion and a back end portion. The front end portion provides a mechanism for a user to interact with functions of the software application, for example, through a graphical user interface (GUI) or an application program interface (API). The back end portion is typically the execution engine for performing the functions and providing responses of the function to the front end portion in response to events that occur in the front end portion. The front end portion and the back end portion communicate with one another through messages that inform the back end portion of events occurring in the front end portion, and instruct the front end portion to respond to messages provide by the back end portion. Software applications generally cannot communicate with one another since the front end portion and back end portion of a given application is designed to communicate with one another and not other front end portions and back end portions.